He Said that He Loved Him
by LOSTbutsurviving
Summary: When the world despises your love affair, doesn't it make it so much better?
1. Burning at these Mysteries

Heyy guys. New story…hope you all like!

Read this: IMPORTANT: my email is if you have ANY stories, ideas, whatever…juss hit me. I'll write them for you. ANY CHALLENGES. Well..haha. I lied. I have three conditions. 1) it has to be Alexander/hephaistion. 2) I'm not writing a graphic nc-17. 3) it can't be very AU or weird…like "omg I want Alexander and Hephaistion to be riding on purple elephants in a Babylon made of Legos!" nope. Not doing it. :P

TROY challenges are also welcome…Achilles/Patroclus only! (okay. Who totally laughed every time they said _cousin _in the movie J so funny.) ok. I'm done. Enjoy the story.

Unwavering Fire

Rating:PG-13

Slash: Alexander/Hephaistion

_Unwavering Fire_

The sound of hooves pounding and voices shouting rose, along with massive clouds of billowing dust, from the racetrack at Pella. Hephaistion rearranged his long tanned legs on the stone bench and continued to read the section of the _Iliad_ he had started earlier in the morning. He had waved off the Companions' insistence that he join them at the racetrack to watch Alexander race Ptolemy. After all, he remembered himself saying with a grin, the winner of the race was obvious. So he was reading Homer in the stands above the track while Alexander, below him, was living Homer. The dismounters' race was a recent hobby of Alexander's- a chance for the newly pronounced Regent to exercise without leaving Pella.

"Alexander! Alexander!"Shouts drew his brilliant blue eyes back to the track, and he saw his prediction was true. Alexander, in the beginning had seized the lead and stayed there throughout all three laps around the track. Ptolemy was making a merry fool of himself; laughing wildly, shouting to his friends, good naturedly cursing at Alexander, and steering his horses all at once. But Alexander—Alexander seemed in a completely different world. His eyes were fixed forward, his mouth was set in a firm line, and his face was flushed. _I know that look, _mused Hephaistion. As he continued to study his friend, it came to him with a jolt. It was the face Alexander put on in battle…

He watched curiously as Alexander rounded the last lap, leaping off at the finish. Shouts of congratulations- and accusation-filled the air.

"Do you never let anyone even come close to winning?" cried a clearly exasperated Ptolemy. "By the gods, man- you were going so fast I thought I would run my horses into the dirt trying to catch you!"

"That was splendid, Alexander," complimented Harpalos wistfully, for his lame leg kept him permanently on the sidelines, whether it be the gymnasium or the racing track.

Though immersed in a throng of jostling Companions, Alexander lifted his head and looked at Hephaistion still up in the stands. They locked gazes for a moment, and Hephaistion saw the glimmer in the gray eyes. Then Alexander turned back to his socializing, and Hephaistion back to his _Iliad. _After a few minutes Ptolemy loudly announced he was going to have a cup or three of wine to celebrate his loss. The Companions laughingly joined him and swaggered out the stone arches of the stadium.

As the last of them disappeared Hephaistion dropped his book and ran down the stone steps to where Alexander stood, waiting. He was clothed a chiton that was so dirt and sweat streaked the white was hardly visible. Track dust plastered the sides of his legs like a second skin.

" 'Phai." He stepped forward to embrace his friend but was quickly fended off.

Hephaistion smirked and jestingly said, "Don't touch me, Alexander. This," he pointed to his shirt, " is a very fine chiton and I don't want to be caked with dirt as _you _obviously are."

"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" A mischievous flash of the gray eyes accompanied the words.

"_Now _you are going too far!" But his actions betrayed his words as Hephaistion pulled Alexander against him in a fiery kiss. It was rough and insistent and filled with raw passion- the way they always kissed. Unaware of the dirt that was now settling-permanently- on his new chiton, he pressed closer to Alexander's bare chest. He began to feel the old, familiar desire of wanting to almost consume Alexander, to merge their bones into one. But soon Alexander remembered something and reluctantly pulled away.

"Mother- she might have spies here. This isn't a campaign- we can't do whatever we wish at any given time."

"True."

Now aware, but not caring, of the dirt transmitted to his freshly cleaned clothes, Hephaistion gestured Alexander to sit against a stone bench; then settled into his arms. They sat there in silence for a while, enjoying just the other's presence and studying the piercing blue of the Macedonian sky. Alexander's roughened fingers entwined themselves subconsciously into the other's fine bronze hair. Finally Hephaistion spoke up.

"Tell me something, " 'Xandros."

"Anything. True friends share everything."Hephaistion smiled as he heard the often-said phrase.

"Just before- in the chariot race. Ptolemy was making a fool of himself and laughing like he' d drunk a jug or three, but you. You were so…"he struggled to find the right word. "Intense. Concentrated. Driven."

Alexander, while he listened, had again tipped his head back to study the sky. He scanned it now, but it seemed to Hephaistion that he wasn't really looking at the vast blue expanse but something _beyond. _Something far away only he could see. The gray eyes sparked with an intense fire that seemed to come from within.

" The chariot race. Ptolemy. Yes." Suddenly he seemed distant. "When I stepped into that chariot today, it seemed like I became someone else. As if the world had suddenly turned on its axis and changed. As I went around the track, I looked into the sky and the sun seemed to come closer and burn more brightly than I have ever seen it. As I drove faster it came closer and seemed to set me alight. Then _I _became Achilles, 'Phai. It felt like _his _blood coursing through my veins, and the track appeared the plain in front of the walls of Troy. I felt his armor cover my arms, chariot grind beneath me, his sweat pour off me. I felt his _fire._"

Hephaistion was used to this- Alexander' s drifting off into a world beyond a mortal's wildest dreams. But he did not begrudge Alexander, because how could he? He was the son of a god. So he merely answered, "And where was Patroclus?"

"By my side." Alexander now slipped his hand down to Hephaistion's and entwined their fingers.

"As I will always be by yours."

"Yes, and I thank the gods for that, 'Phai. How I deserved to have you is beyond me."

Blue eyes locked with gray. "You are more deserving than anyone on this earth, 'Xandros. If you only knew- do you know, 'Xandros, that you can transmit imagination like others can transmit lust? When you spoke of what you saw during your race with Ptolemy, I could almost see it. Not how you saw it, of course. But I thought that I could _almost_ catch a glimpse of the divine."

Alexander cupped Hephaistion's face. "Truly?" His whole face seemed to quiver with emotion.

"Never doubt it."

"Then tell _me _something, 'Phai."Alexander ran a finger over Hephaistion's cheekbones, down in face and traced the perfect jaw line. "If you say I can transmit imagination like others can transmit lust- well- do you think _I _can transmit lust also?"

Hephaistion's only answer was to grasp Alexander's golden head and haul it downwards. Their mouths crashed together. Alexander felt his lips being forced apart and tasted with such vigor that he was left breathless. Rough fingers slid themselves under his chiton and he quickly tried to gather his scattering senses. His mother's spies could still be around, and the gods knew that _she _wouldn't be too happy hearing about her son and Hephaistion going at it right in the stadium. But before he could protest Hephaistion broke away, causing Alexander to moan in frustration. (to his surprise.)

"Now how do you like _that _answer to your foolish question?"

Alexander was outraged at first. But then he remembered what had just happened- the rough hands, the lips- and he grinned wickedly.

"I think you should _finish _answering my _foolish_ question."

And after dragging Alexander into his room, Hephaistion did.

--------May be continued!!!!------- Okay, assuming that you have read the story above, please tell me (IN A REVIEW!!) if you would like a second chapter on…hmmmm…maybe Olympias finding out about the above???!!! evil grin


	2. Ammunition

Heyy! Second chapter of Unwavering Fire, but I published it under a new title, "He Said that He loved Him." Yupp. Hope you like. :P

And remember, if you have ANY CHALLENGES, email meeeeee  thank ou.

I named the chapter titles after songs from Switchfoot's "A Beautiful Letdown." Best band ever. 

**_Ammunition_**

Green eyes opened wide in surprise and a tinge of awe. Their owner had wandered into the track after inquiring Ptolemy where the young regent was. Although almost stone drunk, Ptolemy had somehow managed to point a shaky finger towards the direction of where he had been that morning. Now, the boy silently watched the two tanned figures press against each other, desire vibrating from their forms. He watched as Alexander so easily submitted to Hephaistion's caresses- an unusual sight for the golden prince let no one conquer him.

Suddenly, the two men rose, a little shaky with anticipation. After exchanging a little banter: "I think you should _finish _answering my _foolish _question…"; they staggered off towards the palace. Gliding discreetly through the halls, he followed them all the way up to Alexander's room. Then the door slammed shut, and what happened inside there would remain a mystery. As the last sliver of light coming from inside the room disappeared, the boy did an about-face, and sprinted quickly through the halls until he came to an embellished, gilded door. The door to Olympias' rooms.

A painted, well-dressed lady answered the boy's knock. Catching her train up in one hand, she pulled the boy inside the dimly lit chambers with another. The whole atmosphere scared the boy- it was almost ominous; smelling of exotic smokes and paints.

"Queen Olympias."The woman shoved him in front of her. A side door opened, and slowly Olympias came out. She was dressed in a yellow wool robe edged with rich marten furs. Her fiery red hair, perfectly coiffed in a knot, made her look like she was glowing.

"Your _spy_ is here, my lady." With those words the lady-in-waiting timidly scurried out in a flurry of skirts, leaving the boy standing alone. He looked more vulnerable and smaller than ever.

"Tell me, spy." Rose-red lips quirked up into a slightly disturbing smile. "What _news _of my son Alexander?"

_**Early Next Morning**_

Alexander slept peacefully in his rooms, hardly a twitch or sound to even show that he was still alive. Suddenly, as if they had been set, his blue eyes opened and he was awake instantly. He always got up in the early morning hours- his tutor Leonidas had demanded that he run twice around the track before breakfast each morning. The tutor was gone, but the habit stayed. Gently he turned on his side to see if Hephaistion still slept. He was, with his bronze hair tumbling all over the pillow and his beautiful face calm.

Silently he got up and walked briskly over to the marble balcony connected to his rooms. Every morning he got up and looked at the sea, at the blue waves tumbling over sandy shores. It reminded him of his dream, his fierce desire, to someday see the Outer Ocean- the Encircling ocean that could take him from the end of the world back to Pella again. He leaned against the ornately carved railing, drowning in his thoughts as men drown in water.

A knock at his chambers made him spin abruptly around. Who dare interrupt him at this hour in the morning? He stalked to the door and pulled it open, failing to notice that Hephaistion was still asleep on the bed. There was a lady-in-waiting, undoubtedly one of his mothers' , standing nervously outside.

"What do you want, my lady?" barked Alexander a little too loudly for the hour. Realizing this, he lowered his voice. "Did my mother send you?"

"Y-yes my prince. She tells you to come now if you can. If the prince does not wish to come now, she says, he can do so at his earliest convenience."

Alexander sighed as he dismissed the lady and quietly shut the door. He didn't know whether to feel frustrated or glad. Whenever his mother sent for him, it was usually to rave about Philip's new wife, or about how he never cared for her anymore. But Olympias was his mother- the one who had always been there in his life.

"Mmm."Hephaistion shifted his long, lean body among the tangled linen sheets. Alexander realized guiltily that his loud voice had probably interrupted his lover's sleep. But he showed no sign of waking.

After looking at Hephaistion for a long while, he crossed the room and dropped a chaste kiss on the bronze head. He then pulled out, from a wooden chest at the foot of the bed, a new blue chiton worked in gold that his mother had made him. Pulling it on silently, he slipped out the door.

He walked so confidently and so surely on his way to Olympias' chambers that anyone watching him could tell that he had walked the route many times over the years. His sandaled feet slapped the ground dully.

"My mother requested to see me. Tell her I am here." With eyes lowered respectfully, the lady who had answered his knock hurried off. After a few minutes she came back, and beckoned him in.

"Olympias is waiting for you, my prince."

How many times had he heard those words over the years? Shaking his head in disbelief, Alexander stepped into the chambers and made his way to Olympias'. As he always did before he spoke, he studied the walls. They were painted with huge murals depicting the fate Troy. Priam dying, surrounded with crimson blood. The infant Astynax crying even as he was casually tossed off the walls. Queen Hecuba, going mad as she saw her world come crashing down through the merciless hands of the Greeks. He had grown up looking at these scenes. It seemed strange, but when he was a child these murals had seemed much larger.

"Alexander." Olympias was perched on the edge of her bed, still dressed in her sleeping gown. "Come here, I want to talk to you."

"What is it this time, Mother? Philip is on campaign." To please his mother, Alexander referred to his father as _Philip. _Never "Father".

" I know that, and I know that you are Regent of Pella. _I also know," _here her smoky eyes narrowed dangerously, "_that you never listen to me._"Suddenly she seemed like a pot about to boil over.

"Tell me what I am doing that displeases you. I told you, I am not putting a fool in charge of a whole regiment just because he is _your friend's son._"Only a couple of days before Olympias had summoned Alexander into her rooms, begging that he make the son of her friend a commander. His refusal had sent her into a rage.

Olympias now crossed the room and gripped his broad shoulders. They were nearly the same height now, though Alexander was all tanned skin stretched over muscle while Olympias was pale smooth skin over delicate bones.

"Tell me, my _son,_"she breathed into his ear making him tense. " How did you fare yesterday? I am curious, as you did not bother to come visit me. Did you have a good day? No doubt you were busy with your _duties_ as Regent."

To Alexander, his mother seemed to have morphed into a snake, conniving and wily- never telling, just suggesting. But he answered her truthfully. "I was not busy with my duties yesterday, Mother. Antipatros gave me a day off."

"And what did you do?"

"I went down to the racetrack with my friends. I raced Ptolemy- his best horses against mine. Then I went to a party that Philotas gave in the evening."

"I see."She now circled around him, stroking one of her pet snakes- beige with a grayish underbelly. "And where was Hephaistion?"

Suddenly Alexander knew _all _too well where she was heading. He wanted to lie, but he knew it would do no good. "He was down at the racetrack as well. But he didn't want to watch, so he read Homer. He came to Philotas' party as well."

"_Lies!_" She screeched and shoved him forcefully. "You are telling me lies! Why, Alexander? Do you think I am witless?" Pounding at his unmoving shoulders, Olympias raged at him with a frightening abandon.

"Don't lie to me, Alexander. I know what you did yesterday. Down at the racetrack, you _kissed _Hephaistion. _After that, you slept with Hephaistion. _Then you got drunk at Philotas' party, and you couldn't keep your hands off him, could you. _And then you slept with him **again**!"_

Alexander's lips thinned and turned a ghastly shade of white. Throwing his mother's hands off him he seethed, "And _you _had spies following after me the whole time."

"Well, not the _whole _time. They gave you some privacy."

"Well, _that's good." _A deaf man could have detected the sarcasm.

Olympias saw she did not yet hit him where it hurt most. "I have asked you many times, Alexander, why you don't..._visit_ women. I send you the most beautiful, notorious beauties around. _You _say that you don't have the time. But it seems like you have time for your _pretty boy_ _Hephaistion_."

Rage broke over Alexander like a wave breaks on the shore. He looked around wildly. An expensive chair, carved with ivory and precious stones, stood nearby. With alarming speed, his sandaled foot lashed out and kicked it across the breadth of the room. His face didn't change expression even as his foot was sliced open by a sharp edge, with blood flying out.

But Olympias' face did, changing from one of mocking satisfaction to one of concern. No matter what her son may have been doing and with whom, it was forgotten for the moment as she stared at the crimson puddle forming on the floor.

"Oh, Alexander- you're hurt. Here, let me-"

"_No._"

His gray eyes looked back at her, flashing as if a thunderstorm were occurring in them. They stared at each other for a long minute before Alexander stalked out, his blood leaving a trail behind him.

Next chapter up:

After a week, Alexander and his Mother are still angry at each other. She sends him a gift. He sends her one too.

hehe...any guesses on what the "gifts" may be????

(HINT: no, it's not a new chiton :P)


	3. More than Fine

OKAY! SO I LIED:P they're not going to exchange gifts in this chapter. This is just thing I wrote immediately after I wrote chap 2 but didn't publish..well…until now. So yeahhhh..hope you like.

Light flooded into the dim room and pierced Hephaistion's blue eyes. He slowly propped himself up on one elbow, looking into the doorway. A figure was silhouetted there- shaking with barely controlled emotions. Then, peering closer, he realized that it was Alexander. With a look on his face that made everyone quake and flee from his presence.

"Alexander," he started to speak. But the prince just stormed past him and made his way to the balcony, where he looked fiercely the ocean with his back towards Hephaistion. Knowing enough by now to not disturb him, Hephaistion dragged himself off the bed and onto the cold tile floor.

He kept his eyes on Alexander, wondering what had happened so early in the morning that caused his lover to get so angry. And the blood. Alexander's foot was dripping with blood. Hephaistion suddenly realized his lack of clothes and looked around for anything to wear- all his clothes were in his chambers. After settling on a plain white chiton he found flung over a chair, he decided he needed to find some answers to the questions swirling in his mind.

From the very first moment Alexander had walked into the room Hephaistion had known that the problem lay with him. He didn't know why, he had just got the feeling.

Walking quietly over to the balcony, Hephaistion put a hand on Alexander's shoulder. The hand was usually enough, to rouse his lover from whatever waking dream or living rage he was in. But he showed no sign of even knowing anyone was there. So instead Hephaistion, who had come behind Alexander, gently slid his arms around his waist. It expanded and contracted with the vigorous energy that only rage and lust can induce.

Alexander abruptly spun around, his eyes wild. He seemed to see and notice Hephaistion for the first time. Paying no mind to the fact that they were on a very visible balcony, he hauled Hephaistion closer by his hair and kissed him. Their lips crashed brutally together, and both tasted blood in their mouths. But Alexander was unconcerned, exploring Hephaistion's mouth with a primal hunger. Their trysts were always rough, but never like this.

Alexander broke off the kiss only long enough to drag them both onto the bed. Then he fairly attacked Hephaistion, hands seeming to be everywhere at once. He ripped open his chiton, flinging the white fragments to the floor.

"Alexander-" Hephaistion knew he had to talk some sense into the prince before _he_ lost _his _sense in Alexander's arms. But his call was unheeded, and actions, not words, would have to do.

He gently pushed the groping hands away and turned his head away when Alexander tried to capture his lips again. When the hands came back, he caught them and held them the strongest grip he could manage- under the circumstances. When he spoke his voice shook.

"Alexander. I love you. But you need to tell me what's wrong if I'm going to help you, and not try to ravish me."

"You're helping."

It came out like a growl, and Hephaistion smiled. "No, I'm not. What we were about to do would _definitely _not have helped. Especially at this hour in the morning, with you as obviously distracted as you are. It wouldn't have helped you. Nor me. Now tell me what happened before I woke up."

Gray eyes turned to him, lust still flaring in their depths fueled by anger. Hephaistion patiently waited until the fire dimmed down and Alexander spoke.

"I went to see my mother this morning."

A wry laugh. "Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it? She says she loves you, 'Xandros. And she does. But she also rips you raw."

"Today, I went to her rooms." Alexander's strong hands clung onto the linen sheets as if they were a lifeline. "And she talked about- she talked about…_She had spies, _'Phai. They _saw _us at the track and they saw us Philotas'party." It certainly had been an evening for the spies, the precious night. Philotas had given a feast in honor of the new Regent, and wine had flowed plenty. Alexander had gotten shamelessly drunk and started kissing Hephaistion in front of their friends.

"And then- and then- she called me a liar because I said I had no time for women. She claimed that I had plenty of time, but I chose to spend it with my little _pretty boy._ You."

"She's just angry that you didn't notice the women she sent you." Hephaistion lifted his hand up to his lover's head and stroked the golden hair.

"No, she's angry because I love you so much, 'Phai. She wants me to keep away from you and start visiting women- and talking to her. She wants me to have an heir, raise a household."

"And what do you think of that, 'Xandros?"

He uttered a sigh that seemed to come from the very core of his being. "I don't want to bother with all that. I _don't _want to bother with women. I _don't _have time for them, because I only have time for the things I truly care about."

"I love you, Alexander." That was all Hephaistion could say at first. Then, "I'm sorry that all this happened, and that I'm involved in it." He caught sight of Alexander's torn foot, which had been staining the sheets red.

"Your foot- it's bleeding. What happened?"

Letting him examine the wound, Alexander replied, " I kicked a chair, and it cut my foot. It's not a huge gash."

Ripping off a piece of linen from the stained bed sheets, Hephaistion cleaned the wound and bound it tightly to stop the flow of blood. He kissed it before propping the foot gently on his own legs. Then he looked at Alexander, blue eyes questioning.

"Are you still angry?"

"Angry?" a pause. "I suppose so. My mother usually sends out spies. But I don't believe any of them have spied on the two of us until yesterday. But _she _has no right to intrude in my life, and she _will _see the consequences. And I am angry that she-she so _demeaned _you, calling you my _pretty_ _boy. _You are so much more than that, 'Phai. The comparison shouldn't even be made."

Hephaistion leaned against him, their legs tangling together. "If I am not your bed-boy, then what am I?"

"You are Alexander."

Hephaistion was satisfied with that answer, and this time is was _him _that pulled Alexander into a kiss.


End file.
